A Pivotal Prayer Ephesians 3:14-21 Intro – How Do We Go from Knowing
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A Pivotal Prayer Ephesians 3:14-21 Intro – How do we go from knowing truth to being transformed by truth? How do we take a concept like “God loves me” and go from being able to affirm that it is true to actually comprehending it deep down to the point that we respond differently to the circumstances and people in our lives because it is true? The end of Ephesians 3 stands at such a pivot point. After two and a half chapters of doctrine, Paul is about to jump into 3 chapters of application. 3 chapters of imperatives based on the indicatives. At this pivot point, he prays. His prayer reflects awe about the majesty of the gospel. God set His love on people from eternity past, rescued them from sin and darkness, adopted them as His own children, and placed them in the church to display His wisdom for all to see. But his prayer also reflects our deep need for God to work in our hearts to take truth and apply it to life. If you have ever felt powerless to live out what you see in the Bible, this prayer is for you. If you ever struggle to really believe that God loves you, this prayer is for you. 1. The preface to the prayer (3:14-15) a. “For this reason” i. picks up where v. 1 began before pausing to explain his ministry to gentiles and the manifold wisdom of God in composing the church of Jews and Gentiles ii. Returns to this prayer leading out of chapters 1-3 1. God set His love on you and adopted you as His child (ch. 1) 2. Even though you were dead in sin He made you alive in Christ (2:1-10) 3. Jews and Gentiles are one new man brought near by the blood of Christ (2:11-3:13) 4. 3:10 God’s manifold wisdom is known through the church to the angelic beings 5. Ephesians 3:12 in whom [Jesus] we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him. b. “I bow my knees before the Father” i. Just as Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven” – so Paul describes his prayer as to the Father ii. Every notion of fatherhood that is good and genuine on earth has its ultimate archetype in God Himself. iii. We don’t refer to God as Father because He reminds us of earthly Fathers. Rather, God created earthly families as a picture of Him. iv. Men, want to know how to father? Look to the archetype – look to God’s fatherhood. He provides, He serves, He pursues the wayward, He is gentle but just. v. Didn’t have a dad like that? God can fill that hole, that ache that an absent father created. He makes two requests for his readers, essentially letting them listen in as he prays to God for them. 2. May God strengthen your inner man. (3:16-17a) What does this strength mean? Best way to explain it is to look at the end goal and work backwards. “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” a. The purpose of the strength: That Christ would be at home in your heart (v. 17a) i. In the inner man ii. Christ dwells in the heart of every believer 1. Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. iii. The picture and purpose here though is not merely of being in the heart but being at home in your heart, settled down in a place that is fitting for Him. iv. Famous booklet, My Heart Christ’s Home, pictures the Christian life as a house through which Jesus goes from room to room. The library pictures the mind. As the Christian shows Jesus the library he is ashamed and uncomfortable as he realizes the books and magazines, which represents the Christians thoughts, values, and preoccupations, didn’t delight his guest. Gradually, Jesus helped him remove those things and replace them with God’s Word. In the dining room Jesus finds that the man has been feeding his appetites with money and popularity and worldly desires, and Jesus replaces them with humility, meekness, and love. He goes through the workshop where the man is barely toiling for insignificant things and redirects his efforts to significant service for others, He cleans out the closet of hidden sins. In the end, the home is comfortable and suitable for Jesus. v. Galatians 4:19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you vi. Col. 3 uses the language of clothing - ridding ourselves of things that no longer fit us as children of God and clothing ourselves with those things that are fitting. In this prayer in Ephesians 3, it’s more using the language of dwelling. vii. Making a heart a fitting home for Christ is something that we are responsible to do but it’s hard and, frankly, impossible. What do we need? Strength. Don’t give up. Pray . and act. 1. Nehemiah – rebuilding the wall amidst hostile enemies – prayed, and picked up a brick. Prayed, and picked up a sword. b. The measure of the strength: The riches of the Father (v. 16b) i. Describes the resources at his disposal to bring this power that effects change ii. Would you rather an extremely wealthy billionaire give you from his riches or according to his riches? He could give you $10 from his riches but that would not be according to his riches. c. The means of the strength: The power of the Holy Spirit (v. 16c) i. God’s Spirit is the means by which He strengthens us ii. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. iii. Don’t miss the Trinitarian nature of this – Father strengthening you by the Spirit to make you a fit dwelling for the Son. d. We need strength in the inner man as the outer man breaks down. i. 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, ii. My outer man is breaking down! 1. Vision – used to take pride in my 20/20 (not like I had anything to do with it) but last week I was afraid I would pass the vision exam to renew my driver’s license! iii. We can become bitter as we decay so that our inside mirrors our outside. Or we can be renewed day by day in the inner man, strengthened in the inner man, so that the transforming work of Christ is more and more evident in our lives. e. But don’t make the mistake of thinking this is just a back door to make Christianity all about rules. God’s motivation is love, which is where the prayer goes next. 3. May God open your eyes to His immeasurable love for you. (3:17b-19) a. Knowing God’s love provides a secure foundation in an insecure world. (v. 17b) i. Rooted and grounded – agricultural and architectural (founded) but both have the same ideas – a tall tree and a tall building both have the same problem. They will tip over if not adequately secured. Trees send down roots, construction workers dig deep foundations. ii. Just like a child who knows she is deeply loved at home can better withstand childhood challenges of broken friendships or a disorienting move to a new city, even her own parent’s discipline, so we can better withstand the challenges of life and the difficulty of personal change if we are convinced that we are deeply loved by God. b. God’s love is wider and deeper than we imagine. (v. 18) i. Wide enough to embrace the world (John 3:16) ii. Long enough to last forever 1. 1 Corinthians 13:8 Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. 2. Charles Spurgeon –“It is so long that your old age cannot wear it out, so long your continual tribulation cannot exhaust it, your successive temptations shall not drain it dry; like eternity itself it knows no bounds.” iii. High enough to take sinners to heaven and deep enough to reach down into our lowest points of life to grab us. iv. Psalm 103:11-12 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. v. AW Tozer – “Because God is self-existent, His love had no beginning, because He is eternal, His love can have no end, because He is infinite it has no limit, because He is holy it is the quintessence of all spotless purity, because He is immense, His love is an incomprehensibly vast, bottomless, shoreless sea. .“ vi. Metaphor – linear measurement as if you could measure love – breadth, length, height, depth – like a child who tells their mom, “I love you thissss much” as they hold out their arms.